Oil-well torpedo.



L. A. MOSHER.

OIL WELL TORPEDO.

APPLICATION mz n IULY29.1918- Patented Mar. 11, 1919.

V I anemtoz Le 1018 11 Masher- LEWIS A. KOSHER, OF GOQSE CREEK, TEXAS.

OIL-WELL TORPEDO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Men. 11, 1919.

Application filed July 23, 1918. Serial No. 247,203.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Lewis A. Mosnnn, a citizen of the United States,residing at (loose Creek, in the county of Harris and State of Texas,have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Oil-Yell Torpedoes,of which the following is a specification, reference being bad to theaccompanying drawings. 1

This invention relates to means for (let onating explosives in oilwells, and more particularly to means for exploding nitroglycerin in oilWells.

The general object of the invention is to provide a very simple meansfor lowering a charge of intro-glycerin into an oil well and thenexploding a fulminate cap to thereby explode the nitro-glycerin.

'A further object is to provide a device of this character which may beloaded without I danger of premature explosion and which may be loweredinto the well without danger of such an explosion, and which willtherefore be very safe to handle.

Another object is to provide a device of this character which is verys'imple in con struction and cheap to manufacture and which any one ofordinary intelligence can hendle with entire safety.

Other objects will appear in the course I of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in accompany ing drawings, wherein Figure 1is a vertical sectional view of a well casing with my torpedo disposedtherein;

Fig.2 is a vertical sectional view of the detonating head and thego-devil;

Fig. 3 is an elevation partly broken away of the detonating head and thedynamite container; and

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4- of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that my device comprises anitroglycerin container designated 10, which is formed of e pipe openat'its opposite ends, one end being exteriorly screw-threaded and thelower end being ciosed by a on 11 after the charge of nitroglycerin haseen inserted. The detonator proper consists of a body 12 enlarged at itslower end as at 13 and esteriorly screw-threaded to fit within the upperend of a con ling 10' on the nitro-glycerin container 10. his enlargedportion 13 contains a chamber 1% designed to contein fniminate,

this fulminate being held in place by a wad 15. The upper end of thischamber is reduced in diameter, to form a seat for'a detonating cap orprimer 16. Formed integral with the body 12, and arching over this body.is the yoke 17. which is cutaway as at 18 and as at 19.1eaving a crossbar 21 just above the primer 1.6. and a cross bar 22 at the up per endof the yoke. These cross bars are perforated for the passage of a firingpin :23, the lower end of which is formed to engage and explode theprimer 16. This firing pin, as seen in Fig. 4-. has its upper endannular in cross section and vertically slot ted as at 2% to accommodatea transverse bolt 25 which passes through the yoke 17. A screw 26 passesthrough the. cross bar 21 and is adapted to engage the firing pin tohold it raised or in safety position.

For the purpose of supporting the eharge of nitro-glycerin, and thedetonator, a Wire :27 is used which passes over the pulley 28 at themouth of the well and extends downward into the well and at its lowerend eonnects to the bolt 25. The wire 28 is connected to a' reel or anyother suitable means whereby it may be raised and lowered and adapted toslide downward on the wire 28 is a dart pipe or go-devil '29 having adiameter the same as the diameter of the firing pin 23.

In the practical use of this invention the bolt 25 is first removed andthe firing pin 23 is raised to its full height and engaged by the setscrew Insert the primer on the seat 16 and fill the chamber 14 withblack gun powder, or other quick-exploding fulminate held in place bymeans of the wad 15. The Wire 27 is then inserted downward through theslotted opening 24 of the firing pin, a loop having been formed at thelower end of the wire previous to insertion for the passage of the bolt25. The dart pipe or godevil has been, of course, previously insertedupon the wire 27. The explosive charge is then disposed in the containeror pipe 10 and the container is screwed into the coupling 10* whichconnects the container 10 to the body 12. The set screw 26 is thenloosened and the firing pin carefully lowered until it rests on theprimer 16. The device is then lowered gently into the well to betorpedoed, the dart pipe being held atthetop of the well against anydownward movement until the detonator with its charge of dynamite hasreached the )oint where the explosion is to take place. Vhen all isready, the dart pipe or go-devil is released, and when it strikes thefiring pin, the primer is exploded, exploding the fulminate 14 and Theadvantages of this inventionlie in the safety with which it may behandled, the simplicity of its construction and its cheapness ofmanufacture. While I have described a form of my invention which Ibelieve to be particularly effective, I wish itunderstood that manychanges may be made in the details thereof, without departing from thespirit of the invention, as defined "in the appended claims.

I cla1m: .1. A well torpedo comprislng an explos1ve container, adetonatlng head detachably connected to the container, and havingtherein a fulminate chamber and a primer seat,'a firing pin slidablymounted in the detQna-ting head above the primer seat,

above the primer seat eing formed to prof vide an arched yoke, a

bolt detachably'en; gaged with the upper end of the yoke and extendedtransversely thereof and adapted t0 beconnected to a supporting wire, afiring pin guided in the yokeand slotted to ,,-accommodate said bolt anddisposed eonthe charge of 'nitroglycerln. l

plosive container closed at its lower end and having screw-threads atits upper end, a detonating head having a chamber at its lower end forcontaining fulminate and connected by a coupling to the explosivecontainer, there being a primer seat above the fulminate chamber and theupper portion of the detonating head being formed to provide an upwardlyarching yoke, the yoke being formed with a medially disposed cross bar,the upper end of the yoke and the cross bar beingboth perforated, a boltpassing transversely across the upper end of the yoke, a firing pinslidably mounted in the perforation of the yoke and coacting with theprimer seat, the upper end of the firing pin being vertically slotted,said bolt passing through the slot, a set screw passing through thelower cross bar of the yoke and engaging the firing pin to hold it inits raised position, a lowering wire connected to the bolt, and a dartpipe loosely surrounding the wire,and adapted to engage the upper end ofthe firing pin when the dart pipe is dropped.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo Witnesses.

' LEWIS A. MOSHER. Witnesses v CLIFFORD D. GREEN, GEO. W. CAMERON.

